Feminine
by bubblecandyrock
Summary: Marth has been acting strangely, and Ike is determined to find out what's wrong with his boyfriend. The answer that he finds is shocking, and he has to find a way to repair the prince's confidence in himself. Jerkface!Captain Falcon, IkexMarth


**My spell check isn't working, so these stories are self-edited. Sorry for any typos! Plus I'm Canadian, so some things are just the different spelling.**

Ike could tell that something was bothering Marth. His boyfriend had been acting strangely for the past few days. Small, subtle things, like forgetting to wash his hair or calling someone by the wrong formal title. But he didn't dare ask, because then Marth would just say there was nothing wrong, and start acting more cautiously around him.

This, of course, was what led to Ike staring at his boyfriend as he ate lunch. He was leaning forward, squinting his eyes and propping himself up on his elbows. Marth was definitely still eating like prince.

But wait. His pinkies weren't slightly up like usual. They were rather stiffly placed next to the rest of his fingers. He was also kind of uncomfortable with the pair of eyes boring into him.

"Is something wrong?" Marth asked in his soft voice, raising a delicate eyebrow. "You haven't touched your food."

Ike blinked, then shook his head, beginning to shovel spaghetti into his mouth.

"Nhpe! Nrffing's wrung!" he said cheerfully, his mouth full. Marth made a face, wrinking his slender nose.

"One day, I swear I'll manage to fix those table manners," he declared. But Ike had acheived his goal. A smile had made its way onto the prince's face.

There was a chorus of giggles, signalling the arrival of Zelda, Peach and Samus, who joined them at the table in the Smash Manor kitchen. Now it was Ike's turn to make a face. He had been hoping that he could have Marth to himself for awhile. He was pretty sure that Marth felt the same, but that didn't stop the prince from being a gentleman.

"Hello girls," he said, giving a warm smile.

"Hello Marth!" the three chorused, giggling even harder. Marth was popular with the ladies because he was always so kind and gentle, and these three didn't seem to be an exception (actually, they were just yaoi/shonen ai fangirls).

"How has your day been?" Marth inquired, placing his eating utensils down. Ike resisted the urge to bang his head into the table in frustration. Then Marth really would snap.

"Oh, just fine, thank you," Zelda replied with a smile. Ike had no problem with her, she seemed the most easy to get along with. However, the whole "Sheik" thing confused him, and there was something about that smile that made a shiver run down his spine (*gasp* Ike can sense fangirl!).

"Good, I won against Captain Falcon in the brawl today!" Samus chirped, relaxing and leaning back her chair. Samus, too, seemed pretty cool, and most like him. But that smirk and intimidating personality kept him from being friends. That was a person he didn't want to mess with. They would, however, have the occasional conversation.

"Oh, just lovely!" Peach exclaimed, clapping her hands once to express delight. Now Peach was someone that Ike stayed FAR away from. With her violent mood swings, too-innocent smile and Mario and Luigi glaring at anyone that went near her, she was someone he avoided like the plague. In his opinion, Mario and Luigi could keep her.

He sighed as the conversation dragged on and on. They talked all about their day, the weather, brawling techniques, and then the subject landed on hair products.

"I just got a new conditioner that does wonders for my hair! Do you want to try it?" Zelda asked Marth during the discussion. Marth stiffened, then looked awkward.

"I'm sorry but, I actually don't use hair products anymore," he informed them, looking slightly depressed. All of them gasped.

"But Marth! What will that do to your hair?"

"And it always smelled so nice!"

The complaints from the girls continued as Ike's thoughts raced. So that's why Marth's hair smelled so different (creeper)! Why would he stop?

"I'm sorry girls."

All three gave each other worried looks and left, saying goodbye to both of them. Marth immediately lost his formal appearance, sighing.

"I thought they'd never leave," Marth told him, mischeif glinting in his eyes. Ike snorted, still thinking about the most recent revelation in Marth's behaviour.

"I don't know how you do it," he decided. "I would never have the patience to talk to people that I didn't want to be around."

"Unfourtunately, princes often don't have those luxuries," Marth said, giggling slightly behind his hand. The blue-haired prince was the only male capable of giggling that he knew, but it made his heart feel warm.

But something was wrong with his boyfriend for sure, and he needed to find out what.

XxXxXxIkexMarthxXxXxX

It wasn't until about a week later, at the next Smash tournament, that Ike finally caught on to something. That he realized who was making Marth act so differently. The particular tournament was Marth up against Captain Falcon.

It started out normally, swords being used, punches being thrown, but then Marth drew back to catch his breath, and Captain Falcon started talking.

"Oh, come on! Fight me like real man!" he sneered. Marth froze. Ike froze. Zelda, Peach, and Samus froze. "I figured your fighting ability would be your one manly quality, but I guess I was wrong!"

Marth gritted his teeth, turning and lashing out. Captain Falcon saw it coming, and dodged.

"What, can't hit me with your womanly strength? Wouldn't surprise me. You're such a girly faggot that I'm starting to wonder if you're even really a man. That would explain why Ike would even look in your direction."

Woah. No. Just, no. Marth looked absolutely crushed, and if there wasn't a forcefield, Ike would already have jumped onto the battlefield and punched the Captain into next week. Needless to say, the Captain won the match. Marth seemed barely able to lift his sword. He was pounded into the ground, and utterly defeated.

After the match, Ike was going to go hurt his boyfriend's tormentor, but Samus, Sheik, and Peach beat him to it. Sheik kicked him to the ground, and Samus grabbed him by the collar.

"What the HELL was that?!" the blonde growled. Captain Falcon shrunk under his gaze.

"W-wha?"

"You heard her," Peach said, sweetly. "Answer the question before we **murder** **you too deep for 1-ups.**" The Captain gulped nervously.

"Look, taunting is allowed-"

"That was NOT taunting!" Sheik cut him off, folding her(?) arms.

"W-well, if he had a problem with it, he could have told me instead of sending a bunch of women to fight his battles!"

"Oh yeah?" Samus asked, eye twitching. "You want a battle, let's go have one." She dragged him off, all three of them ignoring his begging.

Ike smiled, glad he could count on them, before remembering he still had to find Marth.

He did find him, back in their shared room. The lights had been shut off, but Ike could still see the bandages all over his boyfriend. They seemed to glow in the dim light.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ike asked, crossing his arms. Marth was facing away from him. His armor and boots had been put to the side. "I could have done something."

"It would have just fueled the fire," Marth said, shaking his head.

"How long?"

"It doesn't matter, Ike."

"Well, right now the girls are beating him to a pulp." Marth turned, surprised. He made for the door.

"I should stop them before they get in trouble-" he began, but Ike stopped him, throwing him onto the bed. Marth landed on his back lightly, and Ike fell on top of him, supporting himself with his hands on either side of the prince, straddling him. "I-Ike! What are you doing?!" Ike stared at him for a moment.

"Marth, you're amazing."

"Wh-what?"

"You're amazing, and strong, and regal, and gentle, and kind."

"W-where is all this coming from a sudden?" Marth asked, bringing up a hand to cover his eyes.

"Everything Captain Falcon said is crap." Ike brought Marth's hand away from his face, unsurprised by the tears brimming there. "It's okay to cry." He brushed the prince's bangs away soothingly.

"B-bu-but-" Tears were streaming down his face now, and the prince desperately tried to wipe them away. Ike gently took hold of his wrists.

"You're the most amazing person I've ever met, Marth. Yes, you have feminine qualities, but that's a part of you. And I love you, all of you. Please don't change because of what one stupid person says to you." He kissed both of Marth's cheeks, then his collarbone, and then his slender neck."I love you. Every part of you, every inch of you. Every mannerism, even the things you don't like about yourself." He lay down next to him, pulling him close.

"I *hic* l-l-love you t-too," Marth said, smiling. He blushed as Ike pulled his hand towards him and kissed each of his knuckles lightly.

"If someone ever says something like that to you again, just tell me. You might have to keep your reputation as a prince, but I'm a mercenary. And I'm your boyfriend," he added, smiling into Marth's hair.

"Mm-kay," Marth mumbled, before falling asleep.

**So, yeah. I suck at fluff -.- Review, because that's what keeps the updates coming!**

** P.S. I suck at ending these things -.-**

** P.P.S. This isn't as long as I wanted it to be -.-**

** P.P.P.S. I don't have anything against Captain Falcon, he just served my needs for this story. He was one of my favs in the original Smash Bros game, I used him all the time. I didn't choose him as a hate crime or something -.-**


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